OPRA lives

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Good Friday morning!

The Open Public Records Act lives on as it is. For now.

Just before the Assembly Appropriations Committee was scheduled to hold one last hearing on the bill to overhaul OPRA before the Assembly and Senate would be able to vote on it, it disappeared from the agenda followed shortly by a statement from Speaker Craig Coughlin.

“Understanding how important it is to maintain transparency and the right of the public to know what their government is doing, I appreciate the concerns raised about A4045. Right now, we are working on various amendments to ensure we get the bill right,” Coughlin said in a statement. “There will not be enough time to compose the amendments, review them, and have further meetings with members of the public prior to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, and so the bill will not be heard for consideration today.”

This could mean the bill is delayed until budget season, or perhaps just a month. An assemblymember told me that they’ve been asked about their availability for a potential voting session in April, during the normal legislative budget break, while Senate sponsor Paul Sarlo in a statement said, “I look forward to further developing these proposals by having everyone involved work together in the weeks ahead before the budget process gets fully engaged in early April, and by ensuring that the public will continue to be a part of the process.”

It’s clear the public pushback led to this delay. Advocates are still pushing to scrap the bill altogether. But at the very least, it’s likely many of the most criticized measures won’t find their way into its final form.

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QUOTE OF THE DAY: “In most cases these people just assume that this is the way that the system in New Jersey works … And if there’s a bill that they want to move through the Legislature, or a grant that they want to get, or a job that they might hold — all of that could be in jeopardy if they anger the first family of the state.” — Former U.S. Rep. Tom Malinowski on the state’s Democratic establishment backing Tammy Murphy

HAPPY BIRTHDAY — Nia Gill, Grace Spencer, Justin Zaremba, Katie Wertheimer, Brian Bauerle. Saturday for Beth Sawyer, Koren Frankfort, Shane Mitchell, Christina Renna, Madeline Urbish. Sunday for Christian Callegari, Jerry Cantrell.

WHERE’S MURPHY? — No public schedule.

WHAT TRENTON MADE


GOP WON’T STAY SILENT ON DEADLY POLITICAL ISSUE — Time may be running out for bipartisan gas tax deal, by POLITICO’s Ry Rivard: Supporters of a plan to increase the New Jersey gas tax are trying to sell Republicans on the plan by pointing to a bipartisan deal to raise the tax eight years ago during Gov. Chris Christie’s administration. But unless something changes in the next several days, they may not be able to say the same thing again in the future. Right now, no Republican lawmakers are publicly supporting a fast-tracked gas tax plan. Democrats control the Legislature, and the current plan is backed by leaders in both chambers and Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy’s administration. But without a bipartisan deal, the gas tax could be an issue during the 2025 gubernatorial campaign next year or in 2029, when the five-year plan would expire right in the middle of another election cycle.

—Lawmakers advance 100 percent clean energy bill in New Jersey Senate

—“An automatic gas tax hike and new electric vehicle fee races toward passage in N.J.”

THE DARK SIDE: ‘DON’T COME HERE’ — “Housing crisis points to the dark side of home rule,” by The Star-Ledger’s Tom Moran: “At a Senate hearing on affordable housing Monday, the elected leaders of Summit showed up in force, with the mayor and two council members warning that the state was about to rob them of their sovereignty. ‘Please leave the decisions about development to the people who are directly impacted!’ said Mayor Elizabeth Fagan .... The opposition [to the affordable housing bill] is coming from towns that are resisting infringement on their powers of home rule, which is seen as sacred to many people in New Jersey. If you’re deciding where to build a park or a new school, home rule makes sense. But it can be a curse as well. It’s enabled wealthy white suburbs to exclude the poor for generations, a key reason our schools are more segregated than those in Alabama.”

NURSING HOMES — “Confusion about early COVID-19 directives drove case count in nursing homes, report says,” by NJ Spotlight News’ Lilo H. Stainton: “With predictive modeling telling them COVID-19 patients would overwhelm New Jersey’s hospital system within weeks, state officials took drastic steps to expand acute care capacity in March 2020, setting up field hospitals and negotiating space on a U.S. Navy hospital ship docked in New York City. And to ensure that hospitals could still discharge patients who were no longer critically ill but too weak to return home on their own, the state Department of Health directed nursing homes to admit any resident — even if they still had COVID-19 — as long as those infected could be safely isolated. But according to an independent report on New Jersey’s COVID-19 response released Monday, that order confused nursing home operators. They were already facing growing levels of sickness, a shrinking workforce and limited tests and protective gear. And that confusion likely enabled the coronavirus to spread more quickly among some of the state’s most vulnerable residents.”

JERSEY BLEEDOM — Today is the self-imposed deadline for state Superior Court Judge Michael Blee to decide whether Republicans’ lawsuit against the shadowy Democratic super PAC “Jersey Freedom” can continue or whether it belongs with the Election Law Enforcement Commission. You’ll recall that “Jersey Freedom” promoted alleged fake candidates to hurt Republicans and exploited loopholes in the Elections Transparency Act to avoid disclosing its funding until well after the election. The general feeling is that Blee will remand the case to the agency, following ELEC’s brief in which it said it has sole jurisdiction. We’ll know soon enough. From a press perspective, it would be a lot more interesting to watch this case unfold in court than to have it in ELEC, whose investigations take place behind closed doors.

—Pfeiffer: “We need to fix OPRA. Let’s start here”

—“Murphy admits COVID mistakes, vows to improve N.J. pandemic response after critical report”

—“New Jersey is creating a new online database to allow sexual assault survivors to track cases”

—“Senate panel advances five new judges to reduce persistent vacancies on the bench”

—“Lawmakers urge new protections for workers facing extreme heat”

—“What did NJ’s motor vehicle and unemployment systems learn from the COVID-19 crisis?”

—“Inside the Port Authority’s deal with N.Y. to fund a new $2B bus terminal. Will it work?”

CARTOON BREAK — “State Democrats don’t want you to know what they’re doing”

BIDEN TIME


RUNNING ON EL-SISI’S SLATE — “Indicted Sen. Bob Menendez is considering running for re-election as an independent, sources say,” by NBC News’ Julie Tsirkin, Carol E. Lee and Kate Santaliz: “Indicted Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., is considering running for re-election in November as an independent, two sources who spoke with him directly tell NBC News … He is now making calls to allies about his record and career and is preparing to collect petitions to run in November as an independent, the sources said. If Menendez were to run as a Democrat, he would need to come up with 1,000 signatures by March 25th — so time is not on his side. But running as an independent would give him more time; in that case, he would only need 800 signatures by June 4th to qualify for the ballot … [Andy] Kim called the news ‘really alarming,’ telling NBC News that Menendez considering running as an independent is ‘just another clear example of putting his own personal benefit ahead of what’s right for this country.’ ‘There is no way that he can win this seat,’ he continued. ‘But what he could do is jeopardize this seat and give Republicans a chance.’ … Menendez’s legal bills are mounting and he can only fundraise if he is a candidate on the ballot, the sources noted. It’s not unheard of to use campaign funds to cover legal fees; former President Donald Trump’s affiliated committees spent almost $50 million in fundraising cash on legal fees last year, NBC News previously reported.”

—While this report cites campaign fundraising as a motivation for Menendez to run (he also has a legal defense fund for which he can continue raising money regardless of whether he’s running), I refer you to what I wrote at the top of this newsletter last week.

BOBBY FLAYED — Judge rejects Bob Menendez’s legislative immunity claims, by POLITICO’s Matt Friedman: A judge on Thursday denied Sen. Bob Menendez’s claim of legislative immunity from the initial four corruption counts against him. Menendez had claimed he couldn’t be prosecuted because of the Constitution’s Speech or Debate Clause, which protects members of Congress from prosecution over legislative acts. He also argued that the indictment violated the separation of powers doctrine. “The Court rejects Menendez’s argument in full, finding that none of the allegations … are protected by the Speech or Debate Clause,” Judge Sidney Stein wrote. Stein did not rule on Menendez’s arguments that the case should be dismissed based on the 2016 Supreme Court’s decision vacating a corruption conviction against former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, which narrowed the definition of “official acts.” The trial is scheduled on May 6. Since Menendez filed for the dismissal on Jan. 10, a grand jury has added 12 additional corruption counts against him as well as new corruption allegations.

MEKNENDEZ — “Donors to Bob Menendez legal defense linked to ex-terror group,” by the Intercept’s Eli Clifton: “At first blush, these smaller contributions to Menendez Legal Defense Fund might appear to come from a smattering of individual donors. An analysis of the donor rolls by Responsible Statecraft and The Intercept, however, shows that about 15 percent of the people who gave to Menendez — including Moeinimanesh and Afshari — are linked to an Iranian exile group called the Mojahedin e-Khalq, or MEK. Menendez and the MEK have a relationship going back a decade. Shortly after the group was removed from a State Department list of ‘foreign terror organizations,’ Menendez advocated for the MEK following an attack on its members by the Iraqi government.”

—“Tammy Murphy wins Middlesex Democratic convention”

—“Gloucester Republicans opt for Bashaw for Senate”

—“Big group of women elected officials calls for abolishing county lines”

LOCAL


BEAT IT — “NJ Supreme Court rejects Michael Jackson’s appeal in Paterson election fraud case,” by The Paterson Press’ Joe Malinconico: “The New Jersey Supreme Court has decided not to intervene in city Councilman Michael Jackson’s attempt to keep criminal investigators from getting the passcode for his cellphone. The New Jersey Attorney General’s Office seized Jackson’s phone last spring as part of a probe into allegations of witness tampering in the long-pending election fraud case against him. But Jackson refused to give authorities the code that would give them access to his text messages and call log. After state Superior Court and Appellate Division judges ordered Jackson to turn over the code, he asked the Supreme Court to hear the case. The Supreme Court issued an order on March 5 — a document made public Tuesday — that said it had denied Jackson’s request for an appeal.”

SPENT IT ALL RESPONDING TO OPRA REQUESTS — “Mystery $800K in spending? N.J. town can’t manage its own money, the state says,” by NJ Advance Media’s Matthew Enuco: “The finances in a New Jersey town are so out of whack, and taxpayer dollars are so at risk of misuse that an independent monitor must be installed to right the financial ship. That’s the recommendation of a damning letter written by New Jersey’s Office of the State Comptroller, which said among the problems in Irvington is a mystery $800,000 in expenditures that were not properly documented. The issues, the state says, date back at least 15 years, but local officials say they were “shocked” to receive the report and recommendation from the state, after they say they’ve been working diligently to ensure they are in compliance with all state fiscal standards … Among the issues Walsh alleged is almost $800,000 of ‘unidentified expenditures’ that were first discovered in a 2019 audit”

PUTTING OUT THE FIREMAN — Jersey City Mayoral candidates Jim McGreevey and Bill O’Dea this week both took positions in favor of the DEP’s plans for Liberty State Park that have been attacked by non-profit groups funded by sneaker mogul Paul Fireman, the owner of Liberty National Golf Course who previously tried to lease a piece of the park to build some new golf holes, and who now is pushing a redevelopment of the park with major sports complexes.

—“[Camden] facing firetruck ‘crisis,’ unions say”

—“‘They came to their senses': Toms River mayor, business group make fireworks deal”

—“Jackson reaches big settlement with family of bystander killed in police chase”

EVERYTHING ELSE


I THOUGHT POTHOLES WERE AREAS WITHOUT DISPENSARIES — “N.J. allows you to file claims for pothole damage. But how much is actually paid out is surprising,” by NJ Advance Media’s Larry Higgs: “The first thing to do is determine who’s responsible for the road: a town or city, county, state Department of Transportation or a toll authority, officials said. But if you decide to make a claim against the state, the odds of getting paid are probably better at an Atlantic City Casino. Even the introduction to the form is discouraging, suggesting you go to your insurance company first. ‘From 2019 to 2023, the (state) Division of Risk Management received 2,908 claims, of which 13 were paid, totaling $7,870,’ said Danielle Currie, a state Treasury Department spokesperson. ‘There are 95 claims still open from this time period.’ That means 2,005 claims were closed with no check being written to most vehicle owners filing a claim.”

—“Bon Jovi pays tribute to Neil Diamond, Van Morrison on anthemic return single ‘Legendary’”